Method of and apparatus for making packages



Nov. 16, 1965 R. WATTS, JR

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PACKAGES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July31, 1962 'IOOII" FIG. 5

INVENTOR. RIDLEY WATTS JR.

ATTORNEY Nov. 16, 1965 R. WATTS, JR 3,217,462

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PACKAGES Filed July 31, 1962 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. RIDLEY WATTS JR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,217,462 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FORMAKENG PACKAGES Ridley Watts, .lr., Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to TheAmerican Packaging Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of ()hioFiled July 31, 1962, Ser. No. 213,803 21 Claims. (Cl. 5330) Thisinvention relates to packaging and more particularly to the manufactureof the class of package in which an article is encased within a plasticcovering and the plastic is supported by a decorative and supportingcard.

In United States application for patent Serial Number 97,907 filed March23, 1961, now Patent NO. 3,053,023 issued September 11, 1962, there is adisclosure of a novel and improved process for manufacturing packages.In addition, there is a disclosure there of a novel and improvedpackage, which package now forms the subject matter of a divisionalpatent application Serial Number 213,804 filed July 31, 1962. Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of the earlier case.

In present day merchandising, many articles are packaged in separateunits. Retail p oducts are often package-d in separate units in order toshow the product attractively against a display background, which cancontain art-Work, illustrations of use, trademark, and price. Packagesfor separate units facilitate self service sales, serve as protection inshipment and deter pilferage.

In packages which accomplish this type of display, each unit of articlesto be sold is mounted on an individual display card. This unit iscovered with a transparent plastic material which fixes it to thedisplay card. A number of types of package have been developed whichfall in this general class of display package. Presently, the two mostpopular types are known as skin packaging and bubble packaging(sometimes referred to as blister packaging). Shrink packages areanother type falling within this general class.

In bubble packaging a cup, contoured to the shape of the product, ismolded from relatively heavy plastic film. This cup, known as a bubbleor blister, provides a cavity of sufficient size to receive the productto be displayed. The bubble is formed with a peripheral flange so thatit can be attached to a display card, either by heat sealing to the faceof an adhesive treated card or by being held within a folding cardcontaining an aperture which permits the bubble to protrude from theface of the card while gripping it by its flange.

Bubble packaging is costly for several reasons. One of these is that arather high-grade and heavy gauge transparent plastic material isrequired because the bubble must be relatively rigid. Another reason isthat bubbles are bulky and, thus, expensive to ship and store because ofthe excessive space required. In addition, the process of packaging aproduct in a bubble package is relatively slow and time-consuming.

Bubble packaging is further limited because the bubble must be largeenough to accommodate the largest product within a tolerance range.Thus, for example, one cannot package light bulbs because the smallestbulbs falling within the permissible tolerance range will not besupported in a manner which will protect the product against excessivebreakage.

The more recently developed skin packaging is more economical thanbubble packaging for many product but it, too, has certain inherentdrawbacks. With the most common form of skin packaging, an adhesive isapplied to the front of a card. The adhesive, after it has dried, isperforated. The article film is then vacuum drawn down over the articleand onto the card to simultaneously e ce form a protective covering overthe article and bond the plastic sheet to the face of the display card.

Since, in skin packaging, the heat softened film is drawn down over thearticle itself, an article which has sharp corners, projections, orundercuts will cause the film to puncture. For this reason it is onlypossible to skin package relatively smoothly contoured products. Anotherdisadvantage of skin packaging is that a rather substantial amount ofprocessing equiment is required. A manufacturer wishing to skin packageits product must either make an inordinate investment in packagingequipment or it must ship its products to a custom packager.

Skin packaging is also a difiicult operation. Slight variations intemperature, humidity, porosity of board, oven heat, and film can causepackage failures. Many manufacturers have abandoned skin packaging orrefused to use it because of the difliculty of making dependablepackages.

Shrink packaging is accomplished by stretching a shrinkable plasticfilm, while heat softened into an oversized mold to form a productpouch. This pouch cannot be pre-forrned because of the inherent tendencyof the plastic used to return to its original flattened condition.Accordingly, the article is positioned in the Pouch immediately afterthe pouch is formed and the card is folded and sealed. The film is thenheated to shrink it into tight abutment with the product. Cost, thecomplexity of manufacturing and complex equipment required, loading, andassembly are all drawbacks which limit the use of shrink packages.

In addition, shrink packages are highly susceptible to Warpage andpuncturing because the film will continue to shrink whenever it becomeswarm. Shipping in hot weather, display under a light and other everydaysituations can cause this warpage and puncture.

The roducts which can be packaged with skin and shrink packages arelimited because the product is contacted, in each case, by the film whenit is hot and soft. Both are not suitable for soft deformable productsbecause in both the plastic is drawn and stretched over the product withsufficient force to distort the product. The product must, then, be acomposition which will both not be bonded to the film and not distortunder these conditions. For example, attempts have been made tomanufacture skin passages with polyethylene film. The use ofpolyethylene films has been limited because of its highly adhesivecharacteristics. Many products cannot be skin packaged with polyethylenebecause the polyethylene would become bonded to the product itself.There are other reasons why these attempts to use the polyethylene havenever been fully satisfactory. One is that polyethylene tends to causethe display board to curl. Another is that polyethylene film isrelatively highly susceptible to tearing when heat softened and drawnover a product.

According to the teaching of the parent application a plastic film isadhered to the back of a pre-cut and printed card. With the preferredprocess taught in that application the film is drawn through an aperturein the card and against a mold to form an article receiving pocket inthe film. This pocket is contoured in the shape of the product to bepackaged. Subsequently, a product is inserted in the pocket, the card isfolded on itself and the plastic i bonded to itself to seal the cardclosed with the article contained in it.

The package of the parent application is designed for manufacture by apackage manufacturer and shipment to the product manufacturer Whoinserts the product and seals the package. According to this system theinvestment in tooling and equipment of the product manufacturer ismaintained at a minimum and, at the same time, an improved and superiorpackage is obtained. To effect economies in shipment of the packages andto perrnit minimum storage, the formed pocket is flattened prior toshipment. The article, when inserted in the pocket, is used to redistendthe pocket to its contoured shape, and preferably to slightly tensionthe pocket.

With this invention the card is first printed and cut to size. When thecard is cut, one or more product receiving apertures are formed. Next,when required, an adhesive is applied to a face of the card and allowedto dry. The adhesive is preferably one which dries so that it is notadhesive to the touch when cooled, but is thermoplastic and may beheated to assume an adhesive condition.

Subsequently, the cards are fed, side to side in abutting relationship,along a conveyor. A heat source is provided to heat soften a portion orportions of the adhesive when adhesive is used. The heat portionscircumscribe the product receiving apertures. Each heated portion of theadhesive has a size appropriate for the width of the plastic to beapplied. A strip of plastic from a roll is then continuously applied toeach heat softened portion of adhesive on the abutted cards. Thisplastic application may be a laminating process in which case rolls areused to firmly adhere the plastic to the card. When the card is madewithout adhesive the film is bonded to the card with heat and pressure.

After the plastic has been bonded to the card the pockets are formed. Inthe pocket formation, again, a heat source is used so that only theplastic in the area of the pocket is heated. This heated plastic is thenforced against a mold contoured to the shape of the article to bepackaged. Once the pocket has cooled the cards are stripped from themold and packed for shipment.

According to one method of practicing the invention the cards andplastic with the pockets formed may be rolled and shipped as a roll.According to another method of practicing the invention the cards may besevered into separate packages, stacked and shipped in that manner. Ineither event a novel and improved technique for separating the cardsfrom one another after the plastic strip has been applied is utilized.

With this technique a thin heat source is used. Heat is applied to theplastic film along the juncture line of two adjacent cards. When theheat has softened the plastic along this thin line, the two cards arepulled apart. This very cleanly and neatly severs the plastic leavingthe adjoining cards separated with neat evenly trimmed plastic alongtheir edges. Thus, the plastic tends to contract somewhat along thesevered edge thereby resulting in a neat separation free from loose endsor stringers.

When the cards are separated prior to shipment an other novel techniqueis often employed. The cards are folded along a score provided for thispurpose and bonded in a limited area adjacent the score. This bonding ina limited area provides a partial sealing of the two halves of the cardtogether immediately adjacent the fold. This maintains the card in afolded position while permitting it to be spread for insertion of theproduct during packaging. Thereafter, the inherent resiliency of thecard will close the package sufliciently to maintain the product in thepackage until a complete card seal is effected.

A card seal is usually effected by heating the inner face of the matingcard faces and applying pressure to effect a heat seal. As this heatseal is effected, the plastic is bonded to itself and the adhesive inareas not covered by the plastic is bonded to itself so that a firm sealis obtained even if, for example, the plastic covers only a strip downthe center of the card.

The described laminating process with an adhesive not only maintains allof the features of the parent case, but in addition provides severaloutstanding features. The plastic sheet is never heated other than inthe pocket area, except in the final heat sealing operation. Thus, theplastic is applied to a Warm adhesive, but the plastic itself is cool atthe time of bonding the plastic to the card. With this technique nolineal stresses are set up. That is, there is no tendency to stretch orshrink the plastic and, therefore, the usual problem of the plasticdemonstrating a memory and tending to shrink back to another size isavoided. By avoiding this memory, so-called card curl is' completelyeliminated, not only in the finished package but also in the cards asthey are processed. The cards then, with the plastic adhered to themremain flat. Among other factors this contributes to proper seating ofthe cards on the molds and therefore better dimensional control of thepockets.

Another feature of the invention is that plastic is obviously saved byproviding a relatively thin strip or strips. Even though limited amountsof plastic are used a full edge-to-edge seal of the card halves is stillobtained.

Further, clean and neat severing of the plastic so that there isabsolutely no waste is obtained without cutting. There is no danger ofcutting a card to which the plastic has been applied. This permits thecards to be printed and pre-cut in the appropriate finished size. Thereis no problem of locating the card with plastic attached on a rule die,or the like, for cutting plastic and cards together. Thus, card waste isheld to a minimum and plastic waste is substantially eliminated. At thesame time a highly efiicient system is provided which lends itself wellto an automated high speed production.

An additional feature of this system is that it lends itself well toeither relatively small production runs or long continuous productionruns with equal facility. This system is highly efficient, then, forboth relatively small lots or for fully automated production.

The invention also permits low cost cards to be sent to a customer in afinished condition ready for packaging, which cards do not requiresubstantial space for storage, require nothing more than some simpleheating and sealing means for effecting a seal after a product has beeninserted and which are not susceptible to damage from heat, cold orrough handling during shipment or storage. In addition, the finishedproduct is one which lends strength and rigidity to the product beingpackaged, protecting it well from pilferage and/ or breakage. Further,the finished product provides an attractive display to assist in pointof purchase displays and impulse buying.

In the past a principal problem with plastic carded packages has been inthe provision of a package which permits the purchaser to remove theproduct easily. It has now been discovered that with the present processthis problem can be overcome by controlling the thickness of the film inthe pocket and the shape of the card around the product aperture. It isalso possible to provide the reverse and strengthen the pocket to makethe product more difiicult to remove when, for example, the product isheavy. The thickness of the film can be controlled by the control ofheat and pressure as the pocket is formed. The inner surface of the cardaround the perimeter of the aperture is selectively either rounded orcaused to be a shear edge depending on whether one wishes to facilitateor inhibit the removal of the product.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the object of this invention isto provide a novel and improved process and apparatus for makingpackages and packaging articles.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the process whereinstrips of plastic are applied to a plurality of cards;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the device as seen in the planeindicated by the line 22 of FIGURE 1 showing the application of theplastic film to the cards;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic sectional View of the mechanism for separatingone card from another after the plastic has been applied to the cards;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the apparatus for forming the productreceiving pockets;

FIGURE 5 is a view corresponding to FIGURE 4 of the apparatus with thecard itself serving as a template;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a package with the product beinginserted;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a finished package;

FIGURE 8 is an end elevational view of a package partially sealed andready for receiving a product;

FIGURE 9 is an exploded view of a product being inserted in a partiallysealed package; and,

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a pocket andadjacent portion of a card.

Referring now to the drawings a plurality of cards are shown in FIGURES1 and 3, and individual cards in the other figures. These cards aregenerally designated as 10. Each of these cards is a supporting anddisplay card for a unit to be packaged. Each card 19 has an outermessage bearing and decorated face 11 and an opposite inner face or back12. In the disclosed arrangement the back of the card is scored at 13midway between its ends to facilitate the subsequent folding of the card10. A pair of product receiving apertures 14, 15 are formed in the twohalves of the card defined by the center score 13. These productapertures 14, 15 are, in the arrangement shown, of comparable size andoriented such that when the card is folded along the score 13 theapertures will be mated and aligned for peripheral snug receipt of aproduct.

In formation of a package the first step, of course, will be printingthe cards. Next an adhesive is applied to the inner face 12 of each ofthe cards 10. Preferably, this adhesive is one which dries to a hardsurface so that it can be handled without adhering to anything. It ispreferably a solvent base thermosensitive lacquer. The adhesive shouldheat soften at a temperature which will not heat the plastic film to asoftening point or excessively heat the card. In addition, the adhesiveshould not be heat softenable in storage or shipment, nor when thefinished card is on display. Finally the cards are cut. These steps areeffected in any of the well known and commercially accepted methods.

After the adhesive has been applied to the cards, the cards arepositioned on a suitable support and fed therealong from left to rightas seen in FIGURE 1. The cards pass under a heater 18 which ispositioned above the support. A template 19 equipped with apertures 20is positioned between the heater and the cards to mask the heat andconfine its application to two strips, in the application shown. Withthis construction heat softening of the adhesive is confined to stripseach of a width corresponding to the width of strips of plastic film 23which are to be applied. The width of the strips of plastic film 23 andtherefore of the heating apertures 20 will be sufficient to providestrong peripheral support for the plastic around each of the productapertures 14, 15.

After a strip of adhesive has been heat softened, the cards are fedthrough a pair of laminating rolls 24, 25. The strips of plastic 23supplied by rolls 26 mounted on a mandrel 126 are also fed between thelaminating rolls so that the plastic is firmly bonded to the cards.Where the film used is highly susceptible to distortion by heat atrelatively low temperatures the film may be cooled prior to thelaminating to permit bonding without causing internal stresses or thelike in the film. With this process it is possible for the first time tolaminate polyethylene and similar film to card stock. The key to thisprocess is maintaining the film sufficiently cool prior to thelaminating that the heat absorbed during the laminating would not set upstress which causes card curl or damage to the film.

The next step in the proces will depend upon which of two preferredtechniques are followed. One technique is to form product receivingpockets, coil the cards while still adhered together by the plasticstrips 23 and ship them to the product manufacturer. At themanufacturers plants the cards will be separated and products inserted.The preferred sequence, however, is that disclosed in the drawings andhere again the sequence may vary. One may either separate the cards andthen form the pockets, or form the pockets and then separate the cards.The former alternative will be described, it being recognized that theorder of these steps may be reversed.

When the cards are to be separated first they are fed to a separatingstation shown schematically in FIGURE 3. Here a suitable support 30 isprovided. The support 30 holds the cards 10 which are connected togetherby the film 23. The cards are indexed under a heater 31 and a template33. The template 33 has a slit 34 positioned such that a juncture 32 oftwo adjoining cards is immediately below the slit 34. Once the plasticat this juncture line has been heated the cards are simply pulled apartcausing the plastic to separate. The phantom showing of one of the cardsin FIGURE 3 demonstrates the right hand card being pulled away from theremaining card. With this technique a very clean and neat separation ofthe plastic film is effected, where it is wanted, along the edge of thecard. Because of the carefully confined heated line, and because of aninherent tendency of plastic to contract when heated, there are noragged edges or stringers, but rather a sharp and neat severing isobtained. This is true even though there may be a space between thecards. How large this space may be will depend on the plastic, its gaugeand the like. Successful clean separations have been made with as muchas A3" or more between adjacent cards.

Next the separated card with the adhered film is positioned on a moldplaten 50, FIGURE 4. The platen has a plurality of pocket forming moldcavities 51 formed in it. The card is positioned with the productapertures 14, 15 oriented over these mold cavities 51. A heater 52 ispositioned above the plastic. In FIGURE 4 another apertured template 53is provided with apertures of a size designed to transmit heat only tothat portion of the plastic which one wishes to heat. Thus, the heaterwill heat only that plastic which is stretched across the aperture 14,as viewed in FIGURE 4. The surrounding plastic is masked off by thetemplate to protect the surrounding plastic from heat. In FIGURE 5 thetemplate 53 is omitted and the card is inverted to serve as its owntemplate.

Once the plastic in the area of the apertures 14 and 15 is heatsoftened, a vacuum is created in manifold 56 to create a pressuredifferential to force the plastic down into the cavities 51. Alternatelypressure or a combination of pressure and vacuum are used. The plasticis cooled sufiiciently to set the pockets in their formed shape witheach contoured to at least a portion of the product to be packaged. Eachpocket is set in this manner so that the pocket is free of internalstresses and will retain this shape even if it subsequently becomeswarm. In the FIGURE 5 arrangement the pocket-s are formed inside out andsubsequently pushed through the apertures.

The facility with which a product is removed from the package iscontrolled during die cutting of the card and during the pocket formingsteps of the process. If one wishes to make a package with a pop-outfeature, the card stock is positioned face up on the bed of a diecutter. The product apertures are out then from front to back to form ashear edge at 60 which surrounds the aperture and is on the back 12 ofthe card, FIGURE 10. Through control of the thickness of the plastic ina ring shaped area 61 adjacent to this shear edge, the strength of thepocket is controlled. If one wishes a strong pocket the die cutting isreversed to provide a rounded corner rather than a shear edge.

The thickness of the film in the area 61 of FIGURE 10 is controlled bycontrolling the heat and pressure. If one wishes a pop-out package theaperture in the pocket template 53 is enlarged to expose the area 61 toheat. If one wishes a stronger package the aperture is made smaller tomask this area 61.

When a thin area 61 is formed adjacent the shear edge 60 a so-calledpop-out package is obtained. Pressure applied to the film in one pocketwill cause the other pocket to rupture in the area 61 thereby removingthe product from the package.

When it is desired to provide a thin film the pocket technique disclosedin FIGURE 4 produces the best results. If the desire is to strengthenthe pocket then the inside out technique disclosed in FIGURE 5 producesthe best results.

The unit to be packaged may be either a single article or a group ofarticles which are sold together as a unit such as, for example, apencil and a supply of lead. In the drawings the pictured illustrativeproduct is a roll of tape 35 shown in FIGURES 6, 7 and 9. Since the rollof tape is of cylindrical configuration, the apertures 14, 15 are eachcircular and sized to snugly encase the roll of tape. In addition, thepockets formed, designated by the numerals 33, 34 are each contoured toa shape of about one-half of the roll of tape so that when the packageis finished, as shown in FIGURE 7, the tape is snugly encased within thepockets extending them outwardly and preferably slightly tensioningthem, and the tape is also snugly encased within the apertures 14, 15.

After the pockets have been formed, the card is preferably folded alongthe score 13 to bring the two portions of the inner face 12 intoabutment with one another. A partial heat seal is then effected in thearea designated by the numeral 65 in FIGURES 8 and 9. This partial heatseal will be confined to an area between the fold and the pockets 33,34. The partial heat seal maintains the card in a folded position asshown in FIGURE 9 while permitting the halves of the card to be spreadin the manner depicted in FIGURE 9. When the manufacturer is prepared toinsert the product 35 into the package, the halves of the card arespread as shown in FIGURE 9 and the product is inserted. The halves ofthe package are then released to allow the inherent resiliency of thecard to close retaining the product Within the pockets.

This technique has a number of very definite advantages. Witth theproduct so inserted in the package it is shielded and protected duringhandling thereby minimizing the usual dangers of breakage or the likefrom a product falling out of a partly formed package. It permits theproduct and partially formed package to be transferred and handledtoegther rather than the usually essential technique of folding andcompleting the sealing immediately after the product has been loaded.Perhaps more important is that it greatly facilitates the final heatseal by the manufacturer. There is no problem of folding the card overand restraining it in a folded condition until a seal has been effected.Rather, the card remains in a position where it is readily sealed.Further, a more effective seal is assured since there is no tendency forthe card to attempt to separate widely against the action of the seal oroverly stressing a newly formed seal before it has completely cooled andhardened.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

What is claimed is:

1. The process of making packages comprising;

(a) cutting card stock to provide a plurality of apertured cards;

(b) applying an adhesive to the back of said cards;

(c) allowing the adhesive to dry;

((1) positioning the cards with their edges in abutment with oneanother;

(e) moving the positioned cards past a heat station and heating a stripof said adhesive on each such card with such strip surrounding theaperture in each such card;

(f) applying a strip of plastic to the heat softened strip of adhesivewhile the adhesive is still hot to bond the plastic strip to each suchcard;

(g) positioning each such card on a mold;

(h) separating the cards from one another;

(i) forming a product receiving pocket in the area of each such cardaperture by heating the plastic in such area and thereafter applying apressure differential to it to distend it against the mold and form apocket;

(j) cooling each pocket and setting it in its molded condition while itscard is still positioned on the mold;

(k) stripping each card from the mold;

(l) at least partially flattening such pocket;

(m) thereafter inserting a unit in each pocket to redistend the pocketto its molded shape with the unit snugly encased therein; and,

(n) thereafter sealing each card to maintain the unit in the pocket.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the heat source used to heat the filmin the area of the pocket is a masked heat source whereby to confine theapplication of heat to the plastic film to the area formed into thepocket.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein each card is folded and partiallysealed prior to step insertion of a unit in each pocket.

4. The process of making packages comprising;

(a) die cutting card stock to provide a plurality of apertured cards;

(b) applying an adhesive to the back of said cards;

(0) allowing the adhesive to dry;

(d) positioning the cards with edges in abutment with one another andmoving the positioned cards past a heag station while heating saidadhesive on each such car (e) applying plastic film to the heat softenedadhesive while the adhesive is still hot to bond the plastic film toeach such card;

(f) heating the plastic film near the adjacent edges of the cards with amasked heat source;

(g) separating the cards from one another by pulling them apart whilethe plastic film is still hot;

(it) positioning one such card on a mold;

(1) forming a product receiving pocket in said one card by heating theplastic in such area with another masked heat source and thereafterapplying a pressure differential to it to force the heated plastic insuch area against the mold;

(j) cooling the pocket and setting it in its molded condition while theone card is still positioned on the mold;

(k) stripping the card from the mold and at least partially flatteningthe pocket; and,

(l) thereafter inserting a product in the pocket to redistend the pocketto its molded shape with the product snugly encased therein and sealingthe card to maintain the product in the pocket.

5. The process of claim 4 wherein the film adjacent the perimeter of theaperture of said one card is formed to a different thickness than theremainder of the pocket.

6. The process of claim 4 wherein said one'card is folded and partiallysealed prior to step insertion of a product in the pocket.

7. The process of making a package comprising:

(a) cutting a pair of apertures in a supporting card with the card atthe perimeter of each aperture on the face being rounded and on the backbeing formed into a shear edge;

(b) adhering plastic film to one surface of the card to cover eachaperture;

(c) forming a pocket in the film in the area of each of said apertureswhile controlling the thickness of the plastic in a portion of the areaadjacent the perimeter of the aperture such that the thickness of thefilm in such adjacent area is thinner than the thickness in theremainder of the pocket;

(d) folding the card;

(e) inserting a unit in the pockets;

(f) sealing the card to itself to maintain it in a fully foldedcondition with the unit in the pockets; and,

(g) removing the unit from the pocket by pressing on one pocket to causethe unit to press against the other pocket and thereby separate the filmin the other pocket in the portion of the area of thinner film.

8. The process of manufacturing a package with a display card having anaperture therein and a plastic film bonded to the back of the card andcovering the aperture comprising;

(a) distending an area of the film through the aperture to provide aproduct receiving pocket;

(b) folding the card to bring portions of the back into abutment withone another with a part of one of the portions across the aperture; and,

(c) effecting a partial seal between the two card portions in an areabetween the aperture and the score.

9. The process of manufacturing a package with a display card having anaperture therein and a plastic film bonded to the back of the card andcovering the aperture comprising;

(a) distending an area of the film through the aperture to provide aproduct receiving pocket;

(b) folding the card to bring portions of the back into abutment withone another;

(c) effecting a partial seal between the two card portions in an areabetween the aperture and the score;

(d) spreading the unsealed parts of the card portions;

(e) inserting a unit through the aperture and into the pocket while theparts are spread;

(f) releasing the parts to allow them to return to their originalcondition; and,

(g) thereafter effecting a seal between the two card portions andcircumscribing the aperture whereby to complete the package and maintainthe unit in the pocket.

10. The process of manufacturing a package with a display card having apair of apertures therein and plastic film bonded to the back of thecard and covering the apertures comprising;

(a) distending areas of the film through each aperture to provideproduct receiving pockets;

(b) folding the card along a score to bring portions of the back intoabutment with one another and the apertures into alignment with oneanother;

(c) elfecting a partial seal between parts of the two card portions inan area between the apertures and the score;

(d) spreading the unsealed parts of card portions and inserting a unitthrough the aperture and into the pocket while the parts are spread;

(e) releasing the spread parts to allow them to return to their originalcondition with the unit in the pockets; and,

(f) thereafter effecting a seal between the two card portions andcircumscribing the apertures whereby to complete the package andmaintain the unit in the pocket.

11. The process of manufacturing a package with a display card havingtwo sections, one section having an aperture therein and a plastic filmbonded to the back of 10 the one card section and covering the aperture,said process comprising:

(a) distending an area of the film through the aperture to provide aproduct receiving pocket;

(b) bringing portions of the backs of the two card sections intoabutment with one another with a part of the other of the sectionsacross the aperture;

(0) effecting a partial seal between the two card sections in an areabetween the aperture and the edges of the sections;

(d) subsequently placing a product in the pocket; and,

(e) thereafter effecting a seal between the sections surrounding thepocket and retaining the product therein.

12. The process of making a package comprising:

(a) cutting an aperture in a supporting card with the card at theperimeter of the aperture on one surface being rounded and on the othersurface being formed with a peripheral projection;

(b) adhering a film of plastic to one surface of the card to cover theaperture;

(c) forming a pocket in the film in the area of said aperture whilecontrolling the thickness of the plastic in a selected portion of thepocket in an area adjacent the perimeter 'of the aperture; and

(d) said portion being thin and weakened and thinner than the film onthe back of the card.

13. The process of claim 12 wherein the weakened portion of the area isformed in abutment with the peripheral projection and the latter is ashear edge.

14. The process of making a package comprising:

(a) cutting an aperture in a supporting card with the card at theperimeter of the aperture on one surface being rounded and on the othersurface being formed with a peripheral projection;

(b) adhering a film of plastic to one surface of the card to cover theaperture;

(0) forming a pocket in the film in the area of said aperture whilecontrolling the thickness of the plastic in a selected portion of thepocket in an area adjacent the perimeter of the aperture; and

(d) said portion being thicker than the remainder of the pocket andformed in abutment with the rounded perimeter.

15. The process of laminating a plastic film to a paper card comprising;

(a) applying a heat softenable bonding material to one surface of thecard;

(b)heat softening the bonding material to a temperature above theminimum :bonding temperature but below a temperature which will causestresses in the film;

(c) laminating a plastic film to the heat softened material with theplastic immediately prior to the bonding material being at a temperaturesufficiently cool to permit the formation of the bond without internal,film shrinking, stresses being formed in the film; and,

((1) allowing the bonding agent to cool by absorbing heat energy in thecard to adhere the film to the card.

16. The process of claim 15 wherein the mate-rial is a solvent basematerial and the material is dried on the card prior to the heatsoftening.

17. The process of claim 15 wherein the film is cooled to a temperaturebelow the ambient temperature prior to the laminating step and is atsuch cooled temperature at the commencement of the laminating step.

18. The process of claim 15 wherein the plastic film is polyethylene.

19. The process of claim 15 wherein portions of the card in areas otherthan the area wherein the material is softened are masked to maintainthe card in a relatively cool condition.

20. The process of claim 15 wherein the card is maintained at atemperature below that of the bonding material during the heating stepwhereby to absorb heat and cool the bonding material.

11 21.. The process of claim 15 wherein the laminating 2,989, 7 step isperformed with unheated rolls. 2,990,875 3,053,023 References Cited bythe Examiner 3,060,075 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 3 832 1,938,910 12/1933Keller 93-61 X 2,075,178 3/1937 Copernan 53-27 X 2,497,212 2/1950Donofrio 53-30 X 2,728,703 12/1955 Kiernan'et a1. 10 2,893,295 7/1959Magill 93-36 2,953,814 9/1960 Mumford 264-92 X 2,984,161 5/1961 Cook eta1. 93-36 X Groth 53-22 Samuels et al 156-498 X Watts 53-30 Kincaid156-510 Crane 53-30 Swezey 53-30 X OTHER REFERENCES High Speed StretchFilm Card Packs, Modern Packaging, March 1961 issue, pp. 110-112.

FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Examiner.

1. THE PROCESS OF MAKING PACKAGES COMPRISING; (A) CUTTING CARD STOCK TOPROVIDE A PLURALITY OF APERTURED CARDS; (B) APPLYING AN ADHESIVE TO THEBACK OF SAID CARDS; (C) ALLOWING THE ADHESIVE TO DRY; (D) POSITIONINGTHE CARDS WITH THEIR EDGES IN ABUTMENT WITH ONE ANOTHER; (E) MOVING THEPOSITIONED CARDS PAST A HEAT STATION AND HEATING A STRIP OF SAIDADHESIVE ON EACH SUCH CARD WITH SUCH STRIP SURROUNDING THE APERTURE INEACH SUCH CARD; (F) APPLYING A STRIP OF PLASTIC TO THE HEAT SOFTENEDSTRIP OF ADHESIVE WHILE THE ADHESIVE IS STILL HOT TO BOND THE PLASTICSTRIP TO EACH SUCH CARD; (G) POSITIONING EACH SUCH CARD ON A MOLD; (H)SEPARATING THE CARDS FROM ONE ANOTHER; (I) FORMING A PRODUCT RECEIVINGPOCKET IN THE AREA OF EACH SUCH CARD APERTURE BY HEATING THE PLASTIC INSUCH AREA AND THEREAFTER APPLYING A PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL TO IT TODISTEND IT AGAINST THE MOLD AND FROM A POCKET; (J) COOLING EACH POCKETAND SETING IT IN TIS MOLDED CONDITION WHILE ITS CARD IS STILL POSITIONEDON THE MOLD; (K) STRIPPING EACH CARD FROM THE MOLD; (L) AT LEASTPARTIALLY FLATTENING SUCH POCKET; (M) THEREAFTER INSERTING A UNIT INEACH POCKET TO REDISTEND THE POCKET TO ITS MOLDED SHAPE WITH THE UNITSNUGLY ENCASED THEREIN; AND (N) THEREAFTER SEALING EACH CARD TO MAINTAINTHE UNIT IN THE POCKET.